let’s go surfin’ now, everybody’s learnin’ how....

Our family vacation is coming up in just a matter of days and I am ready. This year we are going back to an old classic for our family, Ocracoke.  Both Jay and I love it there, we love to drive our trusty subaru to our choice spot everyday, we love that there is no dinosaur or pirate themed put-put, we love that everything is closed after 10, we love that there is no chain restaurants or stores, it is just a perfect little get away from everything.  We have had some great trips here in the past and we are looking forward to one again.

Last year we ventured out of our vacationing norm and took a east coast tour of some cities and states that we have always wanted to visit.  It was a great vacation, but it wore me out.  I am not sure if it was because I was in the throws of my first trimester of pregnancy or because we essentially walked the whole east coast up one side and down the other, but I am glad that this year I can plant it in one town, in one house, for one week.  We have seen all the sites, eaten at all of the restaurants, shopped and paroozed all of the stores and galleries, but I think some nice familiarity might be fitting for this years vacation.  With an almost four month baby nothing has been too familiar in the past four months.

So needless to say we are ready!  We have all of the essentials......

sunscreen, bug spray and a new fun color of nail polish

and of course a finished beach quilt that is just begging to be relaxed on in the sun!

Ocracoke here we come!  Keep your fingers crossed that little C is a beach bum like her mom and dad!

-melissa

sewn, sewing, will sew

I feel like a brand new woman, thanks to Charlotte’s new schedule...props to the mother-in-law again!  I now suddenly have times during the day to get some stuff done.  Now I understand that this time should be used wisely by cleaning, organizing, laundering, etc. But I am also bound to use at least one nap a day for creative purposes.  If I play my cards right and use my time wisely I think this is an attainable goal.  I have got some creative juices flowing since the birth of the cutest little girl ever, but much of my time has just been dreaming about what I could do.  So the following blog post is dedicated to what I have done, what I am working on and what I plan to get finished this summer. sewn 

I have had some cute little projects this past spring including Benjamin’s Bunnies, Charlotte’s Derby Bonnet and some really great monthly onsies (I know that these have not been sewn, but have been created by my design loving husband).

sewing

I currently have one project in the works and that is the beach quilt. It needs to be complete by mid-july, ahhh!  I really need to get working on it, I am a third finished and have a good ways to go.  The problem is all these cute, fun easy projects keep getting in the way!  Here are some of my favorite blocks that I have made so far!

will sew

Even though I have a load to do on the beach quilt I am still always in the market for a good project or two, besides promising Jay the next quilt that will be made after I finish the beach quilt will be for him.

Wish me luck, hopefully our newly adopted schedule can really enable me to get some sewing done!  I know once school starts back up in the fall I will not be getting anything finished! 

-melissa

spring is in the air

To me nothing quite says spring like warm weather, baseball, green grass and Easter.  Luckily this week we got to experience all four!  

I have been kept busy this week trying to get a good nice walk in every morning among a number of things.  The good nice kind of walk that makes you sweat, put a catch in your side, makes the gnats swarm because you smell so bad.  The kind that can knock off some major baby belly!  I also waited until the last minute to finish Benjamin’s Bunny Bowling that we are sending him for Easter... surprise, surprise!  I am not quite sure what he will do with the very dense bunnies.  I can easily see them being turned into weapons or even the softball for that matter, but that is for mommy Rachel to deal with.  Our job as Auntie and Uncle is just to spoil him right and send him surprises in the mail!

In anticipation for our very elegant Easter dinner I have been trying to prepare a menu.  In past years Easter has been a completely exhausting day with early mornings and services that need serving.  With that in mind and still wanting to spend time with our loved ones we have invented...drumroll please...BYOM.  Go ahead and try to figure out what that could stand for- Brighten Your Own Meal or maybe Beautiful Yams Over Macaroons...not here, BYOM stands for Bring Your Own Meat (said in your most redneck accent).  It really seems to work for us, our friends bring their own meat for Jay to grill and we provide the sides and dessert.  Now, I have had some time late at night to peruse the web looking for yummy recipe ideas.  And what better site can I find than The Pioneer Woman.  The site has great ideas, comical stories and beautiful photos that seem to really entertain me late at night.  I understand that even if I follow every recipe to every detail my food will still not turn out as delicious looking as hers (just like bunnies pictured above).  Below you can find at least what I am aiming for: a yummy yet simple layered salad, some doctored up mashed potatoes, and roasted carrots.  Dessert is still undetermined and I really should come up with another side seeing how my lovely husband is allergic to two of my selections thus far.  Anyways, I will give it my best go and I am sure everyone will have a fine time.  It can not be any worse than the year that we had cornish hens, they did not completely cook, we served them bloody and I walked around the table demanding everyone throw their Easter dinner in the trash. True story.  Really.  Don’t you want to come over for Easter dinner at the Hess House! Ahhh, Easter memories!

As for the baseball and grass as mentioned prior, we will not be getting to experience baseball for a little while longer...sigh, and as for that grass, Jay still thinks that the mower is still too heavy and difficult for me to push...teeheehee!

-melissa

a week with grammy!

Charlotte and I sadly dropped Grammy off at the airport very early this morning.  Although we had a great week we were very sad to see her go!  Grammy took care of us and entertained us while Jay was out of town. 

Below are some of our favorite moments this past week with her!

early morning cuddles

walking our socks off

working on quilting blocks

enjoying a meal

visiting Lewis Ginter

enjoying some good home cookin!

We also just got to enjoy each others company.  It was nice that Grammy got to see Charlotte’s growing personality, she will never be this young again and it was great that Grammy got to spend some time with her while she is this young. We had time to have good long talks, get to laugh over silly things and of course visit Sweet Frog a number of times!  I know that time with all three of us is time to be treasured and we loved every minute!

Thanks Grammy for coming to visit, taking care and loving on us over this past week!  We will miss you and look forward to seeing you in July!

-melissa